Posibilidad
by Where'sTheFood
Summary: "Your life is an infinite possibility to change who you are" - AU in which Gajeel grew up in FT and joined Team Shadow Gear since kid. Setting during Phantom Lord Arc.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : Hello lovely people! This time I bring you a one-shot that got out of control and will be three chapters long. I'm so excited about gajevy fallfest that is going to happen in two weeks as preparation for the airing of the new FT season! I'm def participating and if you're interested, go check it out in tumblr! The blog name is gajevyfallfest! With the hype of the event I got back into writing and finished this fic with the lovely help of rannuculusfox as my amazing beta reader! Enjoy!

 **Summary:** AU in which Gajeel is part of Ft since kid and part of Team Shadow Gear. Setting at Phantom Lord arc

 _"Tu vida es una posibilidad infinita de reinventarte."_

 _"Your life is an infinite possibility to change who you are."_

* * *

If there was one thing for what the resident Iron dragon slayer of Fairy Tail was known for was never his patience.

"We should go kick their asses fer messing with us," Gajeel growled as he slammed his fist on the table he shared with the rest of Team Shadow Gear. Droy and Jet flinched instinctively when the wood cracked under his strength. Levy's eyes remained on her open book, completely unfazed by the outburst of her teammate.

Fairy Tail had gathered in the basement of the guildhall. The main building had been trashed the night before by Phantom Lord's Element Four. Mira and Master Makarov found the guild with scorch marks completely blackening the entire east side while an enormous sharp boulder pierced the front entrance and tore apart half of the ceiling. The rest of the hall was littered with slicing marks running over every surface and amidst the rubble of destroyed tables, shattered glass covered the floor where the bar used to be. Cana cried at seeing how much alcohol had been lost to the attack.

Thank Mavis, the building didn't collapse on its own by the sheer amount of damage it took! Once more mages arrived to Fairy Tail, Makarov's priority was to ensure the roof wouldn't cave in on them. Together, Droy, Laki and Gajeel created several support beams to deemed it safe to use the basement for the time being.

Makarov knew the attackers had been from Phantom Lord. They painted their ugly guild mark on the remains of Makarov's office. The old man knew their only purpose was to rile up Fairy Tail into going to war with them, something that he just couldn't allow, especially over something as insignificant as trashing an old building. As more mages arrived to the guild, the outrage spread like wildfire, with most of them urging the Master to retaliate against the punks that decided to mess up with Fairy Tail. Team Natsu's arrival had rekindled the commotion that both Mira and Makarov had been able to control. Regardless, Makarov was firm and his orders were crystal clear to not do anything.

' _It's not something to make a fuss about. Leave them be.'_ had been his words to which the majority, reluctantly, complied to. Some were more vocal about their irritation.

Like a certain member of Team Shadow Gear.

"As much as I hate to say this, Gajeel has a point," Jet stated as he stood up from the bench. "We should go kick their asses! No one messes with Fairy Tail!" He slammed his fist into his open palm. His shoulders tensed up with barely contained anger.

"But you heard Master." Droy tightened his fists in frustration. "There's nothing to do about this. Just let them be." The words left a bitter taste on his tongue but he trusted Makarov's judgement and didn't want to be on the receiving end of the old man's punishment if they dared to disobey him. The plant mage gave a side glance towards Levy who had yet to speak. He was hoping she could help him make Gajeel and Jet see reason before they opted to do something really stupid.

"Fuck that!" Gajeel spat straightening to his full height. "We'll beat their sorry asses in no time!" He crossed his arms over his chest. His smirk dripped confidence but something terrifying hid behind his expression. Droy gulped hard and a shiver travelled down his spine when he sensed the dragonslayer's magic crackling around them. Gajeel could be quite terrifying at times.

"Don't listen to them, Droy," Levy said. Droy sighed in relief for the intervention but noticed that her eyes were still fixed on her book. "Master is right. We cannot go attacking Phantom Lord. That's just what they want us to do." She flipped to the next page. Another shiver travelled through Droy at noticing the seething dragonslayer glaring angrily at Levy who acted nonchalantly about the situation.

A growl rumbled lowly in Gajeel's throat but Levy ignored it. Jet took a step closer to Droy, all his previous bravado vanishing at noticing the imminent confrontation. Droy shuffled as far as he could in his seat to keep some safe distance from the fight.

The solid script mage flipped another page and the strife began.

"Oi!" Gajeel snatched the book out of Levy's fingers and snapped it close with a loud thud on the table.

"Hey! I was reading that!" She matched his deadly glare with her own scowl. If the situation was any different, Gajeel would have felt proud of her frightening expression. It had taken her quite some time to perfect her glare. But right now, he was way more pissed off than her and his glare never wavered.

Most people in Fairy Tail felt intimidated to be on the receiving end of Gajeel's piercing glare. Even though the dragonslayer grew up in the guild after Metalicana disappeared, his vibrant red irises and ever-present scowl had many averting their eyes from him. But Levy wasn't one of them. She would go head to head with Gajeel in a glaring contest on a daily basis, not backing out even when his eyes burned into her with their most heated discussions.

"Why the fuck are ya so calm?" He narrowed his eyes on her, confused beyond words at how could she be reading as if nothing had happened. "Ain't ya mad that they trashed our guildhall? Don't ya fucking care at all?!"

"Of course I'm mad!" Levy stood up from her place. Her voice rose above the noise of the guild and everyone quieted down at sensing the anger of the short mage.

Droy scrambled to his feet to stand next to Jet. They took a step back cautiously, not wanting to find themselves between the hellfire of their teammates' argument, something that happened more often than they would like to admit.

"Doesn't look like it to me!" He pointed an accusatory finger to her abandoned book. It ticked her off more thinking how he manhandled her precious book. Her anger spiked more.

"Oh, yeah?! Just because I'm not yelling at everyone or punching tables doesn't mean I'm not angry! Stupid Gajeel!"

"Then why the hell shouldn't we go kick their asses?! Huh?! Explain that to me, Shrimp!" He was looming over her now, trying to rile her up enough to agree with his point. "They more than deserve it for what they fucking did!"

Levy narrowed her gaze and decided against letting the situation escalating any more. "Because that's exactly what they want us to do." Her tone returned to normal but the seriousness on her voice was still present. More eyes were on them than she expected and she raised her voice to make sure the rest of the guild heard her loud and clear, but she kept facing Gajeel. "If we go marching there to start a war against Phantom Lord, the Council could disband Fairy Tail. Is that what you want?" She placed her hands on her hips, making herself big while emphasizing the seriousness of her point.

" 'course not." Gajeel's temper faltered for an instant. He had completely forgotten, or likely didn't care at all, about the stupid Council rules on interguild wars. Low murmurs around them made him aware of the audience they had. He realized then that Levy was trying to calm down both him and the rest of the mages that Gajeel had inadvertently riled up with his words. He huffed and turned back to Levy. "But it ain't as if we're gonna stay here and do nothing!" He averted his eyes from her golden stern stare. Frustration ran through his core, pooling in his tightened fists.

Levy's expression softened then. She knew Gajeel loved Fairy Tail and his fierce loyalty to the guild was what was fueling his anger. She understood him better than anyone in the guild. Her soul always warmed at seeing his protective nature for his nakama, for his home. Even when he tried to hide it behind a bloodthirsty warrior mask, she could always see the true nature of his heart.

She closed the space between them and placed a comforting hand over his arm drawing his attention back at her. "I know how you feel." She looked him in the eye with a soft smile on her lips. "But as Master said, it's just a building. We'll fix it and everything will be alright."

Gajeel felt a calming wave wash over him from her words and her touch. The soothing feeling had almost dull to sleep the rage he felt in his veins, but an unknown uneasiness in the back of his mind wouldn't fade away. His instincts kept him on high alert, telling him that this was just the beginning of Phantom Lord's plans. And as much as he wanted to believe Levy's words he couldn't douse the fury in his blood. The uncertainty of not knowing what was to come and the frustration of not being able to do anything about it twisted his gut into an ugly painful knot.

He shook Levy's hand from his arm roughly, taking a step back and glaring angrily at her once again. She was taken aback by his action, her hand stayed suspended on thin air as she tried to catch up to the situation. Pain etched deep in her chest at the anger settled on his face and the bite behind his word sent the unwanted feeling all the way to her toes.

"It ain't gonna stop here, ya know," he spat. "You're an idiot if you think this is gonna be the end of this Phantom Lord shit." The hurt in her expression almost made him stop on his tracks, but Gajeel's judgement was completely clouded by wild anger. So, he turned without a second glance at Levy and stomped his way to the exit.

Levy stayed rooted to her place watching his retreating back with an ache in her heart. She knew he was right. This seemed to be just the start of something much much bigger, but what else could she have said to ease his worry? She was concerned for what Phantom Lord's plans might be, but losing their heads and going to fight them head on wouldn't stop that. How couldn't he see that? How couldn't he see that she was truthfully concerned for him and how much it hurt for her to see him react that way?

"You jerk!" Jet stepped on his way. How dared him to call Levy 'stupid'?! But the dragonslayer just pushed the speed mage aside without much effort, not even breaking his stride. "Oi Gajeel!" Jet called after him but the dragonslayer was already out of the building and didn't even give a glance over his shoulder to acknowledge his teammate.

"Let him go, Jet." Levy let go of the breath she was holding in and sat down again at their table, opening her book where she had left it. "He needs to cool down for a bit." Noticing her distress, Jet sat down next to Levy, deciding to let go of his anger against Gajeel for the time being.

"Aren't you worried he might do something stupid?" Droy asked her as he took the seat across the table from her.

"Wouldn't be anything new, huh?" She smiled awkwardly, trying to pull off a joke to lift up her team's spirits. Jet and Droy looked at her expectantly and she sighed. "He won't be picking up a fight with Phantom Lord."

"You don't know that," Jet said firmly.

" _He_ knows better than to disobey Master's orders." She met Jet's gaze and the speed mage turned his eyes to the floor, considering the truth behind her words.

"Still, shouldn't we all stay together? We don't know if those Phantom punks might attack again." Droy's voice wavered with uneasiness as he glanced back towards where Gajeel had exited the guild.

Levy smiled at her teammates. They were truly concerned about Gajeel's wellbeing. They always acted as if they didn't care about each other and were always fighting over the stupidest arguments. But she knew that deep down, Jet, Droy and Gajeel cared about each other as if they were brothers.

"Don't worry. He's the strongest of us. If anything, I would worry about the Phantom Lord mage that decides to fight Gajeel." She giggled and her teammates nodded in agreement, smiling contently at her optimism.

"As always you're right Levy." Jet gave her a toothy grin before heading to the bar to order a couple of beers with Droy following right behind, no doubt with intent to order some food as well.

As the day went by uneventful, night fell over Magnolia's streets. Each Fairy Tail mage went home in groups, not wanting to be easy targets in case Phantom Lord decided to stay in the city for a while.

"You sure you don't want to stay at Fairy Hills tonight, Levy?" Jet's voice laced with concern as he walked behind Levy with Droy by his side.

"You heard Master. We should stick together just to be safe." Her sing-song voice perfectly hid the fear that had a death grip over her heart. She would definitely be safer if she had stayed at Fairy Hills but Levy was terrified that something might happen to Jet and Droy on their way home. She knew they were good fighters but the nagging feeling in the back of her mind wouldn't just go away. After some talking at the guild, she had convinced them to let her spend the night at their apartment. "It'll be fun! We could have a slumber party just like when we were kids."

The boys were still unsure about her decision but decided to just drop the subject. "I wonder if Gajeel is already home," Droy thought out loud, considering the chances that Gajeel might be back at the apartment he shared with Jet and Droy.

"Probably. I mean, it's pretty late. Not much to do outside right now." Jet shrugged nonchalantly, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his coat.

Levy slowed down her step until she came to a full stop. She was mostly worried about Gajeel. He hadn't shown up at the guild for the rest of the day after he stormed out angrily. They had had their heated arguments in the past, but it had never taken Gajeel so long to cool off or for Levy to apologize to him. She was starting to think that maybe she should have done the latter by now.

Jet and Droy stopped behind her, curious about what had made the solid script mage stop walking.

"Hey, guys." Her voice was quieter now and her two teammates frowned at the sudden change from her cheerfulness. "Do you think that maybe I was too hard on Gajeel earlier? Sh-should I maybe apologize to him?"

Her shoulders slumped forward, regret and worry making it difficult to keep up with the high spirits. Jet and Droy blinked dumbly as they caught up to what she was saying.

"What?!"

"Of course not, Levy!"

In an instant, both guys were next to her, waving their hands around and with big goofy smiles plastered on their faces.

"You know Gajeel. He's probably home munching on some iron by now."

"Yeah. He might have forgotten about it all by now. Don't beat yourself up for that."

"B-but-"

"No but's!" Droy placed a comforting hand over her shoulder. "If anything, he should be the one apologizing. He was being a dick and we all know it."

"Yeah, don't fret it Levy." Jet gave her the thumbs up. "We'll see him at home soon and you'll see you got nothing to worry about."

Levy looked from one male to the other as the weight on her heart lifted from their words. She smiled at them and nodded grateful to have such good friends with her. "You're right. We'll see him soon."

A single drop of rain fell on Levy's nose, making her turn her face up to the sky, noticing just now that the clear nightly sky was covered by thick clouds. Jet and Droy followed her lead right before the rain intensified all around them.

"Where's all this rain coming from?"

"Drip, drip, drop." A booming thunder rattled the sky and accompanied the feminine voice that carried the three words through the deserted street.

They turned their eyes to the end of the street ahead of them. There stood a blue-haired woman holding a pink umbrella. Her expression was stoic as she assessed the three mages in front of her. Next to her stood a tall broad man, with a blindfold covering his eyes. His shoulders shook as his sobs intensified with each step he took forward.

"Who are they?" Jet questioned warily, feeling the immense magic power coming from the couple ahead.

"Nom, nom, nom."

Team Shadow Gear quickly turned behind them and saw a thin man with green hair and a monocle coming out of the ground. His back and limbs twisted in an unnatural way as his eyes grew darker at the sight of the Fairy Tail mages. Out of the shadows of an alley, another man stepped up into the dim light of the street. He cracked his knuckles as the street lamp revealed a tattoo across the bridge of his nose and his white and black hair tied up high in a ponytail.

"We finally found some fairies," the tattooed man spoke, smirking menacingly as they all started advancing with evil intent towards the three Fairy Tail mages.

"Yes. Master Jose will be pleased," the woman said in a gloomy tone that resembled the rain that fell over them.

"So sad!" the tall man spoke as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"What's going on here?!" Droy's voice hitched in panic. He quickly took a defensive position next to Jet and Levy, protecting each other's backs without taking their eyes off their opponents.

Levy's mind was racing trying to comprehend what was happening right in front of them. The air around them buzzed with the magic energy coming off their foes and she knew they were from Phantom Lord for what the girl had just said. The rain, the earth and the two other males… words got stuck in her throat as the pieces fell into place. Terror gripped her heart at knowing that walking down the street at night had been a grave mistake. For they weren't just going to face some Phantom Lord mages, but their elite force.

 _The Element Four_.

* * *

A strong clap to his shoulder rose Gajeel from his sleep. He opened his eyes slowly, taking in the bar where he had been drinking himself stupid. His neck was sore from sleeping on the barstool with his head resting on the counter. An empty bottle of beer was still clutched tightly in his hand. He glanced briefly to the light filtering through the small windows in the bar and noticed that it was already morning. A pained groan escaped his lips as the pounding in his head increased with each second.

"Ha. I knew you couldn't handle hangovers well, iron boy." Cana laughed as she sat on the barstool next to Gajeel.

He growled at her, annoyed at her cheerfulness so early in the morning. But more than anything, he was mad that she was right. "The fuck you want drunkard?" His voice was dry and he just noted the glass of water placed in front of him before he drank it greedily.

"Well~ when you didn't came back to the guild yesterday, I kinda promised baby blue I'd look for ya iron booty in the bars I knew you went." She shrugged, signaling the bartender for a beer. "I might have gotten a bit side-tracked but hey, I found ya now."

Gajeel let his head fall to the counter with a thud as another groan escaped him.

 _Levy._

He really had acted like an ass to her. She just wanted to calm him down and he had lashed out to her. He couldn't erase from his mind the hurt expression on her face when he had shoved her hand away.

"I really fucked up, didn't I?" he mumbled, more to himself than anything but Cana still heard him.

"Nah. She was just worried you would get yourself into some trouble." Cana downed half her beer in one motion. When she noticed from the corner of her eye that he didn't raise his head she sighed. "Though you might want to apologize, ya know?"

"Yeah, yeah." He rubbed a hand down his face in exasperation. Why couldn't he act normal with Levy? She was always acting nice to him and he just looked for ways to piss her off or be a dick to her. It was as if his mind and heart fought for control and he always ended up spluttering the wrong words from his mouth. He knew this crush he had on her would be the end of him, but he didn't want it to ruin their friendship or hurt her.

Gajeel was so fucked up.

"She helped Master after you left, ya know?" That caught his attention as he turned to look at Cana. "A lot of people started questioning Master's decision. Little blue helped cool things off at the guild. Don't know what would have happened without her there." Cana shook her head and chuckled. "It's great having someone so smart and level-headed in our guild."

"Tch. Tell me about it." Gajeel smirked, not surprised in the least about it. "Why do you think she's our leader?" He chuckled as he finally raised his head, grabbing his second glass of water. He was positive Levy's words had some kind of spell that soothed those who'd hear her. He reckoned it was an extension to her Solid Script Magic that she wasn't yet aware of.

"Ha! You guys would be totally lost without her." Cana smirked and Gajeel smiled softly at that. Levy was really special for both the team and the guild. And he had been really rude to her. He might do something extra to apologize. Like buying her some new books or building her a new bookcase. He was positive that she would be needing a new one soon.

Suddenly, a man came bursting through the bar's door, disrupting the rather quiet morning atmosphere of the bar. Gajeel noticed the man was disheveled and sweaty as if he had been running a marathon just seconds ago. When his eyes landed on Cana and Gajeel, he moved quickly, stopping just in front of them panting as he rested his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Oi. Where's the fire buddy?" Cana stood up from her bar stool to steady the man.

"You're… Fairy Tail… right?" he said between heavy breaths.

"Yeah." Gajeel grunted as an uneasy feeling settled in his chest. The panic on the man's eyes made his skin crawl.

"Phantom Lord… they…"

"What? The guildhall?" Cana released a breath she didn't notice she was holding in. "That's old news buddy. You don't need to worry your pretty head over it."

"No." He shook his head. "No, not that." He straightened still breathing heavily. "They attacked last night again."

Gajeel stood up from his seat with a snarl settling on his lips. Cana looked at Gajeel worriedly and back to the newcomer.

"What happened? Tell us," Cana urged him. But the man seemed to lose his words when he finally realized who Gajeel was.

"You- you're from Shadow Gear, right?" He stammered and the panic in his eyes deepened. Gajeel's heart beat rapidly in his chest as he nodded, not trusting his words for the fear that his heart would leap out of his throat. His instincts were on high alert, something in the back of his mind screamed that something was _very_ wrong.

The man's eyes dropped to something akin to pity and sorrow. It only made Gajeel's anxiety increase tenfold.

"You need to go to Magnolia's park. _Now_."

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you so much for reading! As I said, this is going to have two more followup chapters so do not despair! You'll get to see what happens once Gajeel finds Levy, Jet and Droy. Let me know your thoughts on this story! Love to read your comments even when it takes me ages to reply to every one of them haha.

 **A/N2:** for those who want to participate in gajevy fallfest but do not have tumblr/do not want to make one, you can post your fics here in ffnet and PM me. I'll make sure to rb the link to your story and tag it for the event so gajevyfallfest blog can share it in tumblr. Just make sure you'll follow the guidelines of the event, otherwise they won't rb your story even if the link was shared in tumblr. Any questions message me! I'm getting super excited about this event and want to see lots of people participating and sharing our love for gajevy!

 **WTF (Where's The Food?)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you so much for all your reviews, they truly encouraged me to finish this chapter sooner. Here's the second chapter of Posibilidad. Enjoy! As always, a huge shout out to ranunculus-fox for being an amazing beta!

* * *

" _We should have a name!"_

" _For what?"_

" _For our team! Duh!" Jet jumped down from the old oak to land almost perfectly next to Levy who was leaning on the bark of the tree reading one of her favorite books._

 _Droy followed suit, but the 12-year-old boy tripped over a branch and fell face first on the freshly-cut grass of Magnolia's park. Gajeel who was the last one to jump snickered at the clumsiness of his friend._

" _Just think about it," Jet kept going, "we could be the coolest team in Fairy Tail! We need a badass name, don't we?"_

" _Ya don't even know what badass is!" Gajeel snorted which earned him a glare from the redhead boy. Droy just laughed at them._

" _Shut up iron breath."_

" _Make me, speedy."_

 _Jet lunged at Gajeel and both boys tumbled to the ground with Gajeel easily securing Jet in a headlock, much to the other mage annoyance. Droy stood by the sideline, jabbing an insult or two towards both kids._

" _That would be nice!" All boys stopped what they were doing and looked back at Levy who had closed her book and was now paying attention to them._

" _Huh?"_

" _A team's name." She tapped her chin with her finger and looked up to the tree's canopy. "It'll make things easier to go on a job. And I'm pretty sure it'll help us build a cool reputation." Her eyes shone with excitement as she looked back at them. She stood up and clapped her hands happily. "We're already a great team! It's about time we have a great name as well!"_

 _Her cheerfulness was so contagious that Gajeel dropped his grip on Jet and the three boys nodded in agreement. "Hell yeah!"_

" _But what should it be?" Droy asked everyone as Levy closed the distance towards her friends._

" _It should be something cool!"_

" _And fearsome!"_

" _And cool!"_

" _I already said that, Droy!"_

" _How about," Levy paused, making sure her friends were paying attention, "Team Shadow Gear."_

" _Yeah!" Droy said excitedly._

" _I like it." Jet nodded._

" _Team Shadow Gear. Sounds badass enough." Gajeel's smirk broaden after tasting the name on his lips._

" _Then, it's decided!" Levy chirped happily. "From now on, we're Team Shadow Gear!"_

" _YEAH!" The four kids bumped their fists together and with the big oak as their witness, their new adventures as Team Shadow Gear began._

* * *

Gajeel ran like he had never run in his life. He had left Cana behind at some point but he couldn't care about it any less. His heartbeat was pounding in his ears, his blood freezing with dread.

 _Please, let them be fine. Tell me it's not them!_

He pleaded to Mavis, to Metalicana, to anyone that could hear his prayers. Because he hadn't waited for the man to finish explaining. The sorrow in his eyes told him by far how much Gajeel needed to be in the park in that second.

 _Levy. Jet. Droy._

They should be fine. They were probably fine! Even if Phantom Lord had attacked them, they were strong, and together they were stronger! They would have kicked those Phantom Lord's asses in no time.

Then, why was he able to smell their blood from three blocks away from the park?

 _Let them be fine. Please!_

As he neared the park he noticed the multitude gathered around the big oak in the middle of the park. He faltered for a second, hearing murmurs and whispers with the crowd around; all eyes were glued to the tree. His mind tried to catch up to what was happening and to what his senses were telling him.

The smell of his teammates' blood was stronger in the middle of the crowd. By the old tree.

He wasted no more time. He pushed through the mass of people, barely noticing by the corner of his eye that Salamander's team had arrived almost at the same time as him. When he cleared the crowd, he felt how his heart seized its rapid beating in his chest.

High on the bark, hung the limp, bloodied and bruised bodies of his teammates.

On the same tree that Jet, Droy and Gajeel used to climb up to the top branches when kids, on the same tree where Levy had taught him how to read and write in Fiorian, on the same tree where they had chosen Shadow Gear as their team's name. On that same tree, shackled by wood as if the tree had grown around their forearms, and with a Phantom Lord guild mark painted over their heads, Jet, Droy and Levy had been crucified by Phantom Lord as a sick display for all Magnolia to see.

Gajeel felt like getting sick. The contents of his stomach threatened to go up his throat. He gulped hard, his eyes going wide with the scene before him and his breathing laboring with each second.

 _No… No!_

Gajeel couldn't hear anything. His senses zeroed in on his friends trying to pick up any sign that they were alive.

 _Please. Please!_

And he heard it. Their heartbeats. Their breathing. It was weak and shallow, but it was there, and that was all that Gajeel needed to keep going.

With a strong leap, he jumped to the tree and dug his claws into the bark just next to Jet. He didn't notice when he had covered himself in his iron scales but he didn't care, he would use them to tear down the wood cuffs that kept his teammates in place. Assessing Jet's condition, he noticed the unnatural twist of his arm, leaving no doubt that it was broken. Gajeel placed himself in front of Jet, before tearing down the first shackle. Carefully, he maneuvered Jet to hold him against his body before tearing apart the other restraint. He then leaped down from the tree, softening the fall as much as he could to not worsen Jet's arm.

As he placed Jet on the ground, Mira knelt in front of him. "I got him." Her blue eyes burned with unshed angry tears. He could only nod in response.

Gajeel leaped up again into the tree to get Droy down the same way he did for Jet. When he landed back to the ground, it was Cana that took Droy from him so he could get Levy down.

He didn't waste another second. As he was poised to tear down the first cuff that kept Levy in place, he noticed how bruised and broken she was. The bastards had tortured her more than they did to Jet and Droy. Something boiled inside Gajeel at the thought. A rage he had never felt in his life threatened to take away his sanity. He breathed heavily, trying hard to focus on the present and not on what he would do to those who had hurt the most important person in his life. First, he needed to get Levy to safety.

He tore the first restraint and she hissed in pain. Her limp body fell forward as Gajeel caged her against the bark with his own body to not hurt her other arm.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her, not knowing if she could hear him.

He tore apart the second cuff and she whimpered against his chest. Gajeel cradled her with as much care and softness as he could before he jumped down from the tree. He didn't release his hold on her when they were on the ground, opting instead to kneel down and gather her in his arms. He just needed to feel her heartbeat beneath her skin, to remind himself that she was alive.

His eyes roamed over her body. They had hurt her in so many ways. She was kindness and light and they had smeared her in blood and dirt. He felt the magic rippling under his skin. He wanted to destroy everything that had anything to do with Phantom Lord. He wouldn't forgive anyone that had done this to the woman he loved. He would rip them all to shreds and have them all begging for nonexistent mercy.

Something dark crept inside Gajeel's heart then, and he felt the raging beast looking for release. They would pay. He would make them pay!

Gajeel raised his raging eyes to see Makarov standing in front of him. Master's order from the previous day still rang in his ears but he couldn't care less at this moment. He would break the laws of the Council and of Fairy Tail just to return the pain that Phantom Lord had caused to his nakama.

"Master." Gajeel growled lowly, seeing the uneasiness and sadness within Makarov's eyes as he looked at Levy's broken body. His dark eyes shadowed as he bowed his head but Gajeel felt the sparks of magic power igniting the air around them.

"Wrecking our shoddy bar I could bear with… but no parent can remain silent after seeing their children's blood." Makarov's fist tightened until his cane burst into a million of splinters. He raised his head and Gajeel froze at the rage in the other man's soul. "THIS MEANS WAR," he declared with fury lacing each word. His booming voice echoed all throughout the park and into Gajeel's soul as the old man turned to the rest of the guild members shouting orders that the dragonslayer didn't care to hear any more.

Gajeel felt his rage burning again with Master's declaration. The monster within him wanted to rip to shreds every member of Phantom Lord. And he would take his time to ensure every single member suffered as much as Shadow Gear had. He clenched his teeth in anger. He will show them what happens when they messed up with his teammates. He will show them. He will-

A trembling hand gripped the front of his shirt, instantly snapping him out of his dark thoughts. He looked at the woman in his arms and saw Levy's eyes half-lidded and glazed in pain. Gajeel's heart ached at seeing her like that, so broken, so small. He should have been there with them and not at a stupid bar over an idiotic fight. He should have fought alongside with them. The anger he felt ignited once again with a layer of self-loathing coating his soul. Phantom Lord was to blame for all of this! They-

"...rts." Her frail voice barely registered in his ears. Confused about it, Gajeel leaned down closer to her.

"H-hurts…" she whimpered before her grip on his shirt started loosening.

Gajeel then realized his iron scales were still covering his body, with his claws digging painfully into Levy's shoulder where he was holding her close to him. He hadn't noticed that his fury had him tightening his grip on Levy barely stopping before breaking skin.

As if he had been splashed with cold water, Gajeel came back to the present. All his dark thoughts dissipated with the shame that washed over him.

With a gasp, he retreated his scales and softened his hold on her, still not letting her out of his arms. "Levy, I- I'm sorry," he stammered, worrying his lip at the mere thought of causing her more pain.

But Levy didn't hear him. She had fallen unconscious again, her eyes fluttering closed and her grip loosening any strength left in her.

Gajeel felt his head spinning with his heart pounding in his ears. How had he let the beast inside him take such a hold of him to the point of hurting Levy? His breathing quickened at trying to control the whirlwind of emotions clashing within him. Pain, anger, regret, sorrow, love. All these messing around with his heart and mind as he took a deep breath and looked up to the sky trying to clear his mind from the fog of rage clouding his judgement.

 _Focus, damnit. Focus!_

His eyes scrunched shut and his jaw tightened. The beast in his core wouldn't settle. He felt his scales wanting to resurface just to shield him from the raging turmoil in his soul. But he couldn't let them! He couldn't risk hurting Levy again! Not a chance! But the monster was slowly taking ahold of his mind with the anger chipping away any chance for Gajeel to remain in control.

 _Damnit!_

He took another deep breath and decided then to focus on Levy. He focused on where his hand touched her skin and felt her calming warmth. He focused on the memory of her voice and on that particular tingle that would spread through his chest whenever he heard the sweetness of her tone. He focused on the image of her wrinkled nose as she was lost between a thick tome, and on her addictive scent of lavender and parchment that became his favorite fragrance. And as he focused on the brightness of her eyes and on the specks of gold that shone brighter when she smiled, Gajeel felt how the monster within him gave way to the man he was. A man that hurted, a man that was in love, and a man that aimed to be better with each breath he took.

He slowly released his breath and sensed how the rage he felt was carried away by the gentle breeze that ruffled the leaves of the old tree. With a clear mind, Gajeel returned his gaze back to the woman in his arms and to the people around him, trying his best to understand the situation with a level head.

Fairy Tail was going to war with Phantom Lord and everyone was preparing to leave as soon as they could. But what about Jet and Droy? What about Levy? They were just going to leave them at the hospital and hope for the best? What if Phantom attacked them again? They couldn't stay awake for more than a minute in their current condition. They wouldn't last a second if Phantom Lord decided to target them again. Fairy Tail still didn't know the true motives of Phantom Lord attacks. What if they had an ulterior motive? What if they were luring their main forces towards a war while they attacked those left behind? What would happen then to Levy, Jet and Droy?

He couldn't let them be in danger, abandoning them to go to war. Not a chance. He had already let his emotions get the best of him by storming out of the guild the day before.

In that single moment, Gajeel understood what Levy had done for all of them on so many occasions. Keeping a cool head even when your heart aches was something incredibly difficult to achieve. But someone had to do it. Gajeel felt it was so easy at that moment to let his rage take hold of his sanity, to unleash the beast and set all hell loose in Phantom Lord's guildhall. But he had to take the best decision, not just for him but for his team. They needed him more than his craving for revenge. He couldn't let them down. Not again.

Gajeel looked down at Levy and brushed some strands of hair behind her ear, cupping her cheek gently.

 _Not again._

"Master," Gajeel called with an even voice as he stood up cradling Levy in his arms. The old man turned to look at Gajeel and was surprised briefly by the cool demeanor of the young man. Gajeel looked down at Levy before meeting Makarov's gaze. His resolve strengthening his soul as words left his mouth. "Give them hell."

Makarov took notice on how the storm within Gajeel's red eyes had settled, his previous dark aura changing drastically to composed but still fiercely protective. The old man understood then what the dragonslayer's words meant.

"You're not coming." It was a statement, more than a question, but Gajeel still shook his head to get his message clear.

"I'll stay with them." He looked down at Levy for emphasis. "If Phantom comes back to pick a fight, I'll be here waiting." And boy, how he wished they would come just so he could release some pent-up rage.

Master nodded. "I'm counting on you then."

With no more left to say, Gajeel walked right after Elfman and Nab who were taking Jet and Droy to Magnolia's hospital. His teammates needed him more than they had ever needed him before. And he knew, besides the physical scars, there would be more damage to deal with once they woke up.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter! There's still going to be one more chapter to wrap up this story and by the looks of it, it's going to be a long one. But that one will have to wait a bit as I need to finish first my contributions to gajevy fallfest.

Let me know your thoughts on this chapter! Did you like the little flashback on when they became Team Shadow Gear? And what about Gajeel's reaction to finding Levy, Jet and Droy? Next chapter will have another flashback to the past that I hope you will all enjoy as well and of course, more Team Shadow Gear feels and some more Gajevy~

Thank you for reading!

 **WTF (Where's The Food?)**


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